More and more farmers opt for sideline activities

This weekend the national press reported on the increasing number of farmers who "do something on the side". Not just livestock or arable farming, but also things like agritourism, providing care, storing caravans or installing a wind farm are helping the farmer to earn an income. A trend that has been continuing for some time, with many examples in Limburg.

Multifunctional farming

The University of Wageningen began research into multifunctional farming a few years ago. In May 2019 it was already clear that this diversification of farming was increasing in popularity. At that time, about 25% of Dutch farmers and horticulturists picked up other - social - activities such as care farming, child care, farm education, farm sales, nature management and/or recreation in addition to arable farming, horticulture or livestock farming. The figures showed that turnover in multifunctional agriculture in the Netherlands had almost doubled between 2013 and 2018 to €887 million.

The latest research results show that the trend has continued. A survey last summer among more than 1,200 farmers shows that only one-third of Dutch agricultural businesses are dedicated to the primary production of, for example, milk or pork at the lowest possible cost. The remaining farms employ a more versatile strategy to generate income. A whole range of activities is possible, such as agritourism, agricultural nature management, a care farm and activities that have no specific agricultural link, such as energy production with solar panels or wind turbines. Pure and simple agricultural production is now only found in half of the farms, while in 1995 this was still the case in 78% of the farms.

Retention

More income or financial risk diversification is not the only positive side of diversification. Multifunctional agriculture also helps bring consumers closer to producers and increase appreciation for farmers. Ten years ago, 72 percent of multifunctional farm entrepreneurs said that direct contact with citizens and consumers was the main driver for diversification. Wageningen University describes it as follows: "All these services are about the relationship between the farm and citizens/consumers. Multifunctional agriculture is thus (re)connecting agriculture and society."

In addition, the study identifies a third positive consequence: multifunctional farming contributes to job creation, especially among farms near cities or in tourist regions.

Limburg examples

As in the rest of the Netherlands, there are many examples of multifunctional farming in Limburg. It is striking that in many cases not one, but several side activities take place. A small selection from the large number of examples:

• In Haler, Nico and Carin Rietjens run the Hobby Shed activity farm. They combine the dairy farm with various activities for young and old.
  
• At recreation farm Tergracht in Epen, Blonde d'Aquitaine suckler cows are kept, while visitors can stay overnight at the campsite or in apartments.
• The Regihoeve in Reijmerstok is an organic arable and dairy farm with 115 dairy cows and 60 young cattle. In addition, the Frijns family has a care farm and they grow maize and grain for feeding the dairy cows. There are 10 hectares of barley grown for the Gulpener beer brewery and they apply organic nature management.
• Ingelshof is the care farm, group accommodation and free-range chicken farm of Jos and Gerry Mans in Tungelroy. They also keep suckler cows with calves and grow vegetables on a small scale.
• Zorgboerderij Vreike-hof in Ospel is a care farm with a farm store, a horticultural branch and a chicken caravan.
• At farm Ravensbosch, elderly people receive day care and 350 goats are milked. In addition, on approximately 25 hectares of land mainly corn and grass is grown for the goats' feed.
• Hoeve Rosa in Sevenum combines a dairy farm (now at an alternative location in Velden) with its own production of farm dairy and the rental of meeting locations.
• A dairy farm is combined with childcare at Ut Buurke in Kelmond.
• A sustainable meat pig farm and arable farm with catering, an information center, meeting facilities and 1440 solar panels spread over two roofs, of which the surplus is delivered back to the grid: that is Ons Boerenerf in Nederweert-Eind. Also read our interview with the owner.

Alternatives

Is diversification the only way to run a future-proof farm? That question was discussed earlier this year in an interesting webinar organized by the ZLTO. Krijn Poppe, connected as an economist to the University of Wageningen, said there that he expected that a maximum of 20% of farmers can profitably continue traditional agriculture and then only by increasing scale.

Poppe mentioned diversification as an alternative, but differentiation could also offer a solution. In this option new choices are made within the existing business, for example other products or crops, other sales channels or other marketing. Differentiation is often aimed at experience, giving a unique experience, for example forgotten vegetables, traditionally prepared, without additives and regional products.

A third alternative to traditional agriculture that Poppe suggested was to change the form of organization. This involves changes in things like digitization, auctions or contracts (for example, the concept homesteaders). Read more about the webinar here.

Calculation Format

For farmers who want to know whether diversification is an option for their business, Wageningen University has drawn up a calculation format. This allows you to calculate how much return multifunctional agriculture can give you. You can find the tool here. You can read all about the university's Multifunctional Farming dossier here.